Family History from the banks of the Volga River to Wisconsin, Tennessee and Arizona

Thursday, July 13, 2017

250 or 251 years? Machts nichts...Happy Anniversary Reinwald!

July 14… just another hot day in Arizona, but what a day for
a milestone. In 2016, I thought July 14 was the 250th anniversary of
the settling of Reinwald.Since I was
traveling at the time, I didn’t have the chance to check my books, so I checked
a few websites. I was somewhat
disappointed when I checked online records, it indicated that that the village
was settled in 1767. So, I postponed my 250th celebration for a
year, wrote a short 249th anniversary blog at http://valuemeals.blogspot.com/2016/07/happy-249th-anniversary-reinwald.html,
and looked forward to 2017.

This year, I knew I was ready for the big milestone. As I prepared
for the 250th anniversary and reviewed information again.I grabbed my copy of “Einwanderung in das
Wolgagebiet 1764-1767 Band 4” and turned to page 29 to check my dates.And, there it was…Reinwald was settled in
1766. To say the least, I was perplexed.

Checking both sources again, I knew there was one person who
could help me solve my dilemma.I
reached out to Brent Mai.

Brent replied immediately that he would investigate. After a
few hours, he responded with this message.

“Okay, Anna – you’re the first one who has noticed this
discrepancy—and I thank you for discovering it. I made the first gazetteer
based off the appendix to the Beratz book, and that is where 1767 seems to
appear first.I, of course, repeated
this in the 1798 Census gazetteer and one at the front of the “marriage book” Dona
& I did. Even Sallet has 1767.So,
the error has been repeated many times. I’ve made the correct to the VGI site
at Fairfield and included an explanation so that others will note that an error
has been made.”

Brent and I agreed, although July 14, is truly the 251st
anniversary of Reinwald, we should celebrate 250 years anyway, since we thought
last year was 249!

I hope you choose to celebrate the July 14 milestone, whether
it is the 250th or the 251st, machts nichts. What does matter is that, despite years of trying to break through brickwalls in our research, we now have many paths available for
building our family trees and sharing our history.And, most of all, it is day for being grateful
to the original 231 individuals, our ancestors, who settled in Reinwald on July
14, 1766. Remembering them is what matters the most.